Director: Isao Takahata

Studio: Ghibli

Year: 1988

IMDB Score: 8.5/10 Rotten Tomatoes: 98%

Photo-credit: Wikipedia

Grave of the Fireflies is an animated war film based off the semi-autobiographical story by Akiyuki Nosaka. On March 17, 1945, Americans dropped incendiary bombs on Kobe which destroyed about 20 percent of the city and killed over 8000 people. Among them was Nosaka’s father who perished in the bombings and his younger sister who died of malnutrition as a result of the air raid. Nosaka’s experiences during the war, inspired him to write The Grave of the Fireflies. This heartbreaking tale discovers the true horrors of war through Seita, a 9th grade teenager and his younger sister Setsuko. Seita desperately struggles to fight for him and his younger sisters life during the final months of World War II. A film to surely make you shed a tear, Grave of the Fireflies has received a lot of praise for it’s compelling story. It is considered to be a powerful war film that incorporates a unique blend of both beauty and despair.

In the aftermath of a World War II bombing, two orphaned children struggle to survive in the Japanese countryside. To Seita and his four-year-old sister, the...

Director: Makoto Shinkai

Studio: CoMix Wave Films

Awards: Mainichi Film Award for Best Animated Feature and 2016 Los Angeles Films Critic Association Award for Best Animted Film

Year: 2016

IMDB Score: 8.4/10 Rotten Tomatoes Score: 98%

Photo-credit: Wikipedia

Have you ever experienced a deja-vu or had a moment when you felt like you already knew someone you’ve never met before? Your Name perfectly captures this feeling in Shinkai’s most popular film. After Hayao Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli retired, Japan looked to see who would be their next big animation director and Shinkai responded perfectly with the release of Your Name. Your Name follows the story of Taki a high school student in Tokyo and Mitsuha, a high school student in the country side who begin to randomly and suddenly swap bodies. These two complete strangers begin to unravel the mystery and find themselves linked in some bizarre way. Aside from the excellent story-telling and plot, Your Name has also gained responses for its beautiful animation and attention to detail.

Available now on Blu-ray and DVD! Order from Amazon here: http://amzn.to/2hqsnVL ------- Exclusive screenings in UK & Ireland cinemas on 24th November 2016. ...

Director: Hayao Miyazaki

Studio: Ghibli

Awards: Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, Blue Ribbon Award, Mainichi Film Award, Japan Academy Award for Best Film, British Academy Film Award for Best Film not in English, and many more

Year: 2001

IMDB Score: 8.6/10 Rotten Tomatoes Score: 97%

Photo-credit: Wikipedia

Spirited Away is considered one of Japan’s most famous and popular films being the highest grossing film in Japan. The movie tells a story about a young 10 year old girl named Chihiro, who enters the world of kami (deity), but soon finds herself trapped there after her parents are turned into pigs by the evil witch Yubaba who rules this world. Chihiro begins to work for Yubaba at a bathhouse in order to free herself and her parents from the spell that they are put under, but realizes it isn’t easy being the only human in the world of kami. She befriends a boy named Haku who helps Chihiro escape Yubaba’s spell.

Winner of the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, Hayao Miyazaki's wondrous fantasy adventure is a dazzling masterpiece from one of the most celebrated ...

Director: Hayao Miyazaki

Studio: Ghibli

Awards: Animage Anime Grand Prize, Blue Ribbon Prize, Mainichi Film Award, Kinema Junpo Award

Year: 1988

IMDB Score: 8.2/10 Rotten Tomatoes Score: 94%

Photo-credit: Wikipedia

My Neighbor Totoro follows the story of two young daughters (Satsuki and Mei) of a professor who have moved to the countryside to locate closer to their ailing mother in postwar Japan. Satsuki and Mei encounter a friendly forest spirit named Totoro along with his friends and embark on adventures with their new furry companions. Totoro and his friends are only visible to the eyes of a child and soon show their magical capabilities that mesmerize the girls. This film consistently ranks high on critics best films of all time lists and has received high praise for it’s heartwarming and sentimental story telling. My Neighbor Totoro is a family friendly must see film!

Two young girls, Satsuki and Mei, have moved with their father into a new home in the country, while their mother recovers from illness in a nearby hospital....

As the world continues to battle COVID-19 on the medical front, many have also began to battle it through the arts to support and comfort each other. In the Japanese twitter world, a yokai (a class of supernatural spirits that have been popularized in Japanese folklore) named Amabie has begun to resurface after over a century since its debut.

The story begins back in 1846 when glowing lights were seen along the coast of Higo Province in Kumamoto Prefecture. As the town officials went to investigate it, they were approached by Amabie. According to the sketch by officials, it had very long hair, a beak similar to that of a bird, covered in scales and had three legs. The Amabie addressed the officials and introduced itself as Amabie and delivered a prophecy, “Good harvest will continue for six years from the current year; if disease spreads, show a picture of me to those who fall ill and they will be cured”. This encounter was published in the papers the next day a long with a wood block printing of what it looked like.

As COVID-19 ravages throughout Japan, people have taken Amabie to social media to bring hope to Japan and the rest of the world to bring an end to the pandemic.

Once this pandemic subsides, we hope to be able to take you on tours in Tokyo to learn more about supernatural spirits and folklore’s like this!

Still via Wikipedia

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Arguably one of Japan’s most popular and famous films, Spirited Away is Japan’s most successful film, grossing over 347 million dollars world wide. It won an Academy Award for the Best Animated Film and is the first and only animated film to win this award that was completely hand drawn and foreign to this day. Directed by Hayao Miyazaki under Ghibli Studios, this movie follows the story of Chihiro, who enters the world of kami (spirits), but soon finds herself trapped their after her parents are turned into pigs by the evil witch Yubaba who rules this world. Chihiro begins to work for Yubaba at a bathhouse in order to free herself and her parents from the spell that they are put under.

To anyone with the slightest bit of interest in Japan, animated films or even just looking for a movie to watch, Spirited Away is the perfect movie to put on during quarantine. Instead of taking a tour in Tokyo right now, why not get a feel of Japan by watching some Japanese films? You can rent or buy this film on Amazon.

Still via Wikipedia

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Yakitori or grilled chicken skewers is a common food item that is eaten with alcohol. Yakitori is usually bite sized chicken that can consist of breast, thigh, skin, liver or other innards. Yakitori is often served at izakayas - or drinking establishments in Japan, but some of the best one’s can be found in yakitori-ya or establishments that specialize in yakitori. This tasty, juicy meal is a staple food for salary-men across Japan. After a hard days work, salary-men in Japan might go to an izakaya to loosen up and socialize with their co-workers which is most definitely accompanied with some beer and yakitori.

For any vegetarians, you can still enjoy yakitori by ordering things such as skewered shishito peppers, enoki mushrooms, mozzarella cheese and cherry tomatoes.

Tokyo food tour: Enjoy yakitori

Places to go for Yakitori:

Omoide Yokocho in Shinjuku:

Omoide Yokocho or piss alley is famous for having many small yakitori-ya (with some seating just 5-6 people at a time) in one small corner of Shinjuku.

1 Chome-2 Nishishinjuku, Shinjuku City, Tokyo 160-0023

Gado-Shita and areas around JR Yurakucho Station:

Around the JR Yurakucho Station there are many small izakayas and yakitori-ya restaurants that are packed away underneath the railroads.

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Taking a stroll down Harajuku’s Takeshita Street and Omotesando Hills? Take a quick pit stop in the Tokyu Plaza Omotesando Harajuku to snap a photo of the exit coming down their escalator. This mind boggling, eye bending mirrored entrance is truly a stunning way to exit or enter a department store! The kaleidoscope of mirrors on the ceiling and the walls will have you confused on where you are. Designed by renowned architect Hiroshi Nakamura, this unique structure surely fits in with the rest of Omotesando and it’s famous architectures.

Tokyo Tours: The escalator of the Tokyu Plaza in Omotesando

Access:

Tokyu Plaza Omotesando Harajuku

4 Chome-30-3 Jingumae, Shibuya City, Tokyo 150-0001

Hours of Operation: 11:00-21:00

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Yokohama is a port city that opened up to foreign trade for the first time in the mid 1800s. When the port opened up, Yokohama also welcomed foreigners to live in Japan. However, foreigners were designated to live in certain areas - the low hills of the Yamate Bluffs for western settlers and the small area by the river in Motomachi for the Chinese settlers. The western settlers in the Yamate area became to be known as a place for a luxurious western style neighborhood. Giant, glamorous houses made of bricks were unknown to the Japanese eye in the late 1800s/early 1900s. Some of these residences remain to this day and has been converted to small museums where you can see where westerners once lived in.

The Bluff No. 111 is one of the houses that remain from the early 1900s. It was the former house of John Edward Laffin, a ship maker who moved to Japan from the US in 1890. It was designed by Jay Morgan, who came to Japan as the chief architect for George A Fuller Company. Jay Morgan designed a number of the houses in the Yamate area and designed them based off of Spanish Architecture.

Along with the Bluff No. 111, you can also go visit Berrick Hall, the British House and Foreign Cemetery if you are looking for things to do in Yokohama.

Yokohama Guide: Walk through a resident house of the early western settlers in Yokohama on a day tour from Tokyo with Hello! Tokyo Tours.

Access:

111 Yamatecho, Naka Ward, Yokohama, Kanagawa 231-0862

Hours of Operation: 9:30-17:00. Closed every 2nd and 4th Wednesday of the month.

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On a normal day, you are usually out on the streets showing our guests the beauty of Japan. Given the travel restrictions imposed by several countries, how are you spending your time now? What keeps you busy?

While I am unable to use my time to show around our guests, I like to use my time wisely to better myself so I can come out of this a lot stronger! So in the meantime while trying to quarantine and practice social distancing, I like to start my mornings by working out at home with my homemade home gym set. It helps me wake up and get the morning gunk out of my system. Then a typical day includes reading a book - I typically like reading anything about history/culture, particularly anything relating to Japan - or doing some extra research about food, culture or history about Japan and getting some sun because I’m indoors so much more!

We know that you are a wanderlust yourself. When this pandemic is finally over and that you can go anywhere overseas, where will your wanderlust take you and why?

The first place I’d like to travel to once this is over is definitely somewhere with a lot of sun, warmth and a beach. Because I’ve been mostly home and indoors I’d like to lay down in some nice warm sand and swim in the ocean. Maybe some place like Hawaii or Okinawa!

After the world comes out of this dark time and that everyone can travel to Japan again, what is the first thing or place you are most excited about showing our guests and why?

I think the tea house in the middle of a lake at Hamarikyu Gardens is one of the first places I’d want to take people because it has been closed before the pandemic since November and was supposed to open in March again, but now that’s extended until further notice. I think any food tours in Tokyo is also what I miss. I love teaching and enjoying food with new friends!

What is one thing that this very unfortunate event taught you or helped you realize?

Anything I can learn from corona virus is that I realized your time can be spent wisely no matter what. There is no excuse to become lazy, even if you don’t have anything to do. If you are creative enough anything is possible! I try to keep myself busy even if I need to stay home all day.

Stay safe and healthy everyone!

-Sid

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